Stacking containers

ABSTRACT

A stacking bottling has a bifurcated base portion providing a pair of legs defining a channel therebetween, a body portion with a generally rectangular cross section, and a top portion providing an inverted U-shaped handle and a spout which are configured and dimensioned to seat in the channel of the base portion of a second bottle of like dimension and configuration. The adjacent side surfaces of the top and base portions has interfitting projections and recesses to limit relative horizontal movement of the stacked bottles. Preferably, the side surfaces of the legs of the base portion have the projections and the side surfaces of the handle or the spout have the recesses.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to containers and, more particularly tostacking containers.

Synthetic resin containers are widely employed for various types ofproducts. Those which carry liquids are frequently called bottles. Manycontainers have configuration to facilitate handling and spouts tofacilitate pouring larger containers frequently have carrying handlesformed as a part thereof. Moroever, such containers may employ bodyportions having a variety of cross sectional configurations.

To conserve volume in cartons in which the containers are placed, theymay have top and bottom portions which are configured to permit stackingsuch as a recess in the bottom portion to seat the handle and spout of acontainer therebelow such as shown in Maynard, Jr. U.S. Pat. No.4,351,454 and Srokose et al U.S. Pat. No. 6,029,858. Other merelyprovide flat surfaces on the top and bottom such as Soehnlen et al U.S.Pat. No. 4,650,455.

Unfortunately, if the containers of the stack are able to movehorizontally, this produces unstable misalignment of the containers andstacks of the containers in a point of purchase displays can collapse.

It is an object of the present invention to provide novel stackingcontainers which are economical to form and stable when stacked.

It is also an object to provide such containers which employ arelatively small space.

Another object is to provide a stacking container which is easilystacked and is relatively stable and able to limit relative horizontalmovement.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It has now been found that the foregoing and related objects are readilyattained in a stacking bottle having a bifurcated base portion providinga pair of legs defining a channel therebetween, a body portion having agenerally rectangular cross section and a top portion providing aninverted U-shaped handle and a spout which are configured anddimensioned to seat in the channel of the base portion of a secondbottle of like dimension and configuration. The adjacent side surfacesof the top and base portions have interfitting projections and recessesto limit relative horizontal movement of the stacked bottles.

Preferably, the side surfaces of the legs of the base portion have theprojections and the side surfaces of one of the handle and spout havethe recesses. The projections and recesses are oriented vertically.

Desirably, the rectangular cross section is substantially square, andthe axis of the channel extends perpendicularly relative to the axis ofthe handle. The legs have a cross section in which the inwardly orientedopposing side surfaces of each of the legs defining the channel convergeto the interfitting projections and the handles have the cooperatingrecesses.

The spout and handle portions lie along a common horizontal axis and theside walls of the legs defining the channel are inclined inwardly. Theside of surfaces of the handle are inclined inwardly to cooperate withthe side surfaces of the legs defining the channel, and the legs of thebase portion have a horizontal bottom surface. The projections haveopposed surfaces which are inclined inwardly and the recesses arecooperatively configured.

Most conveniently the recesses are on the side surfaces of the handle.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a stackable bottle embodying thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view thereof;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view thereof;

FIG. 4 is a bottom view thereof;

FIG. 5 is an illustration of a stacked pair of bottles;

FIG. 6 is a similar view with the pair rotated 180°; and

FIG. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view showing theengagement of the projections on the side walls of the recess seated inthe recesses of the handle.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Turning first to FIGS. 1-4 of the attached drawings, a bottle Aembodying the present invention has a base portion generally designatedby the numeral 10, a body portion generally designated by the numeral 12and a top portion generally designated by the numeral 14. Containersembodying the present invention can be stacked as seen in FIGS. 5 and 7.

Turning first to the base portion 10, it has a pair of legs 16 which arespaced apart diagonally so as to define a channel 18 therebetween. Thegeneral cross section of the bottle is that of a square and the legs 16are located at diagonal corners of the square configuration. Each of thelegs 16 has two outer substantially vertical faces 20,22 which areperpendicular to each other and two substantially vertical inner faces21, 23 which converge inwardly and a projection 28 extends along theupper portion of the converging sides surfaces. The bottom surfaces 30of the legs 16 lie in a common plane so that the bottle A can be stablyseated on a support surface (not shown).

The surfaces 21, 23 slope upwardly and inwardly as does the projection28. The body portion 12 is essentially square with rounded comers andcan be of any desired length. Recesses (not shown) can be provided onone or more of the outer surfaces of the body portion for labels and thelike.

Turning next to the top portion 14, it has a relatively planar top wall32 and at one of the comers, is a spout 34 with a pour opening 36.Extending therefrom to the diagonally opposite corner is a invertedgenerally U-shaped handle 38 which has recesses 40 formed on the sidesthereof to seat the projections 28 formed on the side surfaces of thelegs 16 in the base portion 10. The side surfaces of supporting legs ofthe handle 38 slope inwardly and upwardly as seen in FIG. 2.

As seen in FIGS. 5-7, the bottle A of the present design is seated onthe support surface and a like configured bottle B is placed thereonwith the handle 38 and spout fitting into the bottom channel 18 in thebase portion 10. As indicated previously and as best seen in FIG. 7, theprojections 28 on the side surfaces of the legs 16 defining the channel18 seat in the recesses 40 formed in the side of the handle 28. The legs16 of the superposed bottle B seat on flat surfaces of the top wall 32and the projections 28 seat in the recesses 40 to substantially precludemovement in a horizontal plane.

It will be appreciated that the inwardly sloping side surfaces on thelegs and handle allows these surfaces to abut and limit movement. Thesloping surfaces on the legs of the handle extend oppositely to thecooperating surfaces of the legs so that the projections on the legsslide easily downwardly into the recesses on the handle. Once seated,relative horizontal motion is substantially precluded.

As will be readily appreciated, the cross section of the bottle may varybut rectangular, and preferably square, to facilitate close packing,particularly in cartons and on pallets. The spout may have a simple capor include other elements.

Thus, it can be seen from the foregoing detailed description and theattached drawings that the containers of the present invention stackeasily and are essentially precluded from horizontal movement, thusproviding a more stable stack. The containers are readily fabricated andeasily stacked.

1. A stacking bottle having: (a) a bifurcated base portion providing apair of legs defining a channel therebetween; (b) a body portion havinga generally rectangular cross section; and (c) a top portion providingan inverted U-shaped handle and a spout which are configured anddimensioned to seat in the channel of the base portion of a secondbottle of like dimension and configuration, the adjacent side surfacesof said top and base portions having interfitting projections andrecesses to limit relative horizontal movement of the stacked bottles.2. The bottle in accordance with claim 1 wherein the side surfaces ofsaid legs of said base portion have said projections and the sidesurfaces of one of said handle and spout have said recesses.
 3. Thebottle in accordance with claim 1 wherein said projections and recessesare oriented vertically.
 4. The bottle in accordance with claim 1wherein said body portion has a rectangular cross section and the axisof said channel extends perpendicularly relative to the axis of saidhandle.
 5. The bottle in accordance with claim 4 wherein saidrectangular cross section is substantially square.
 6. The bottle inaccordance with claim 1 wherein said legs have a cross section in whichthe inwardly oriented opposing side surfaces of each of said legsdefining said channel converge to said intermitting projections and saidhandles have said cooperating recesses.
 7. The bottle in accordance withclaim 1 wherein said spout and handle portions lie along a commonhorizontal axis.
 8. The bottle in accordance with claim 1 wherein theside walls of said legs defining said channel are inclined inwardly. 9.The bottle in accordance with claim 8 wherein the side of surfaces ofsaid handle are inclined inwardly to cooperate with said side surfacesof said legs defining said channel.
 10. The bottle in accordance withclaim 1 wherein said top portion has a horizontal surface about saidhandle and spout.
 11. The bottle in accordance with claim 10 whereinsaid legs of said base portion have a horizontal bottom surface.
 12. Thebottle in accordance with claim 1 wherein said projections have opposedsurfaces which are inclined inwardly and said recesses are cooperativelyconfigured.
 13. The bottle in accordance with claim 1 wherein saidrecesses are on the side surfaces of said handle.
 14. A stacking bottlehaving: (a) a bifurcated base portion providing a pair of legs defming achannel therebetween; (b) a body portion having a generally square crosssection; (c) a top portion providing an inverted U-shaped handle and aspout which are configured and dimensioned to seat in the channel of thebase portion of a second bottle of like dimension and configuration, theadjacent side surfaces of said top and base portions having interfittingprojections and recesses to limit relative horizontal movement of thestacked bottles, said projections and recesses being orientedvertically; and (e) the axis of said channel extends perpendicularlyrelative to the axis of said handle, the side surfaces of said legs ofsaid base portion having said projections and the side surfaces of oneof said handle and spout having said recesses.
 15. The bottle inaccordance with claim 14 wherein said legs have a cross section in whichthe inwardly oriented opposing side surfaces of each of said legsdefining said channel converge to said intermitting projections and saidhandles have said cooperating recesses and said spout and handleportions lie along a common horizontal axis.
 16. The bottle inaccordance with claim 14 wherein the side walls of said legs definingsaid channel are inclined inwardly and the side of surfaces of saidhandle are inclined inwardly to cooperate with said side surfaces ofsaid legs defining said channel.
 17. The bottle in accordance with claim14 wherein said top portion has a horizontal surface about said handleand spout and said legs of said base portion have a horizontal bottomsurface.